One-Pan Orecchiette Puttanesca | Ottolenghi

It’s a good day when you score a dish like the one-pan orecchiette puttanesca. I mean it in every sense of the word. First, it takes one pan from start to finish. The pasta actually cooks in the sauce; there is no need to boil the pasta separately. In less than an hour, you get a main course on the table. The pasta and the sauce are finger-licking good. I can’t help singing to the kitchen god and to the chef who puts the recipe together — so that I can feel like a hero.

It gets better as you drill down on the pasta: orecchiette which shape like small ears. Lately, I’ve been fascinated by what I’ve tasted and learned from the chef at Porta Rosa Pasta and Provisions. He often credits his Italian heritage and channels his inner nonna for the pasta he makes. In this video, you can see this Nonna from Bari at work. She turns out orecchiette faster than a machine — so naturally and effortlessly. It’s nothing short of amazing. Meanwhile, I’d have to settle for a bag from Trader Joe’s (not recommended). Hopefully, someday I’ll get my act together in pasta making, aided by my obsessive tendency.

I’m also in awe with the flavors in the puttanesca, the famous pasta sauce from Naples. In the current Ottolenghi’s recipe, we add the crispy chickpea fried in olive oil and spices (garlic, paprika, cumin), and take out the anchovies. Looking under the hood, there are also parsley, lemon zest, capers, green olives, cherry tomatoes, caraway seeds in the sauce. (This group of ingredients is what you can bank on to quickly add flavor to vegetables, grains or salads.) All and all, Ottolenghi balances savory with two spoonfuls of sugar for sweetness, the combination of which enhances and deepens the flavor.

What more could be said about the dish? Modern day practicality of one pan, age-old tradition of handmade pasta from Nonna, superb interplay of flavors in the sauce. They are all wrapped up in a single satisfying bite of the one-pan orecchiette puttanesca. Buon appetito!

Print Recipe

One-pan Orecchiette Puttanesca | Ottolenghi

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 5 tbsp/ 75ml olive oil, plus 2 tbsp to serve
• 6 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 15 oz/ 400g can chickpeas, drained well and patted dry (240g)
• 2 tsp hot smoked paprika
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp tomato paste
• 2 cups/ 40g parsley, roughly chopped
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• 3 tbsp baby capers
• 3/4 cup/ 125g Nocellara olives (or another green olive), pitted and roughly chopped in half (80g)
• 9 oz/ 250g small, sweet cherry tomatoes
• 2 tsp caster sugar
• 1 ½ tsp caraway seeds, lightly toasted and crushed
• 9 oz/ 250g dried orecchiette
• 2 cups/ 480ml vegetable or chicken stock
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp/ 200ml water
• salt and black pepper

Instructions

1

CRISP UP THE CHICKPEAS: Put the first six ingredients and a sprinkle of salt into a large sauté pan, for which you have a lid, and place on a medium-high heat. Fry for 12 minutes, stirring every now and then, until the chickpeas are slightly crisp – you may need to turn the heat down a little if they start to colour too much. Remove one-third of the chickpeas and set aside to use as a garnish.

2

MAKE THE PUTTANESCA: In a small bowl, combine the parsley, lemon zest, capers and olives. Add two-thirds of the parsley mixture to the sauté pan, along with the cherry tomatoes, sugar and caraway seeds, and cook for 2 minutes on a medium high heat, stirring often. Add the pasta, stock, ¾ teaspoon of salt and 200ml of water, and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium, cover with the lid and cook for 12–14 minutes (it took me longer), or until the pasta is al dente.

3

GARNISH THE DISH: Stir in the remaining parsley mixture, drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and garnish with the fried chickpeas and a good grind of pepper. There are also fresh cherry tomatoes to pick on.

Notes

https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/yotam-ottolenghis-one-pot-orecchiette-puttanesca/